Burning Mountain
Burning Mountain | |
---|---|
Mount Wingen | |
View of the summit | |
Highest point | |
Elevation | 520 m (1,710 ft) [1] |
Prominence | 120 m (390 ft) [1] |
Coordinates | 31°51′54″S 150°54′04″E / 31.86500°S 150.90111°ECoordinates: 31°51′54″S 150°54′04″E / 31.86500°S 150.90111°E [2] |
Geography | |
Burning Mountain Burning Mountain | |
Topo map |
Murrurundi 9034 (1:100000) Murrurundi 90324N (1:25000) |
Climbing | |
Easiest route | walking track |
Burning Mountain, the common name for Mount Wingen, is a hill near Wingen, New South Wales, Australia, approximately 224 km (139 mi) north of Sydney just off the New England Highway.[2] It takes its name from a smouldering coal seam running underground through the sandstone. Burning Mountain is contained within the Burning Mountain Nature Reserve, which is administered by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).[3][4]
A trail with information panels runs from the parking lots to the site where smoke emanates from the ground.
Coal seam fire
The underground fire is estimated to be at a depth of around 30 m (100 ft).[5] It is estimated that the fire has burned for approximately 6,000 years and is the oldest known coal fire.[6]
European explorers and settlers to the area believed the smoke, coming from the ground, was volcanic in origin.[5] It was not until 1829 that geologist Reverend C.P.N. Wilton identified it as a coal seam fire.[5]
The fire is generally moving in a southerly direction at a rate of about 1 m (3 ft) per year. The combustion has caused soil discolouration and an uneven ground surface in the area.[5]
See also
- Brennender Berg
- Centralia, Pennsylvania
- Door to Hell
- Eternal flame
- List of mountains in New South Wales
- Smoking Hills
References
- 1 2 Topographic map Murrurundi 90324N
- 1 2 "Burning Mountain". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
- ↑ "Burning Mountain Nature Reserve". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
- ↑ "Burning Mountain Nature Reserve". Department of Environment, Climate Change & Water. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 Stone, Derrick (2012). Walks, Tracks and Trails of New South Wales. Csiro Publishing. p. 115. ISBN 0643106928. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
- ↑ Krajick, Kevin (May 2005). "Fire in the hole". Smithsonian magazine. Smithsonian Institution: 54ff. Retrieved 24 October 2006.